Swedes drinking more smuggled liquor

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Swedes are buying less beer abroad, but are consuming twice as much smuggled liquor compared to the first half of 2008, according to a new report from the Centre for Social Research on Alcohol and Drugs (Centrum för socialvetenskaplig alkohol- och drogforskning – SoRAD) at Stockholm University.

The explanation for the decrease in foreign purchases of beer are a weaker Swedish krona and fewer trips abroad, reports Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

In addition, while the Swedish Alcohol Retail Monopoly (Systembolaget) reported record sales, overall alcohol consumption in Sweden didn't increase in the first six months of 2009 due to the decrease in travel-related imports.

According to SoRAD, Swedes drank an average of three deciliters of smuggled alcohol each during the first half of 2009.

In the first half of 2009, Systembolaget sold 60 percent of the alcohol consumed in Sweden, while imports and smuggling accounted for 13 and 8 percent, respectively.

SoRAD's report is based on information from 1,500 people who answered questions about their alcohol consumption.